"I must," decided the girl suppressing the repugnance that swept over her. "What if I were old and sick? I should want to be taken care of. I may look just as bad if I have the small pox. And she cared for my mother."
Resolutely she slipped her arm under Rachel's neck, thus lifting her head, and held the water to her lips. As she did so all her fear and loathing left her, and in their place came an infinite pity and tenderness. The sick woman turned from the cup at first, but after a little had passed her lips, she quaffed the rest eagerly and sank back on her pillow with a sigh of content.
"I'll just have to stay with her," mused Bee replacing the cup on the table, and seating herself by the bed. "She needs some one here to look after her, and I'll have to do it. How queer it is that nobody is here!"
The long hot afternoon wore away. The woman's thirst was excessive, and Bee was kept busy ministering to it. As the night approached she sought for a lamp, but could find nothing but a tallow candle with a tin holder.
"It will be awfully dim," she soliloquized, "but it is much better than to sit in the dark. There will be enough light to give her water when she wants it. I wish I knew what else to do for the poor thing."
It was not a pleasant position for a girl to be in, and, as the shadows lengthened in the corners of the cabin, Bee was obliged to summon all her fortitude to face the prospect of a night alone with a very sick woman.
Meantime Adele had hurried to the house as fast as she could go.
"I'll tell Uncle William all about it," she decided, going at once in search of him. "He will know better what to do than Bee does."
But no Uncle William was to be found. Aunt Fanny thought he had gone for a walk; so, hot and tired, and somewhat upset by the episode of the afternoon, Adele went up to her cool chamber and threw herself on the bed.
"I'm not going down to that old hut and carry a lot of things," she said aloud peevishly. "Bee ought not to have gone in that place anyway. Mamma wouldn't want me to mix up in such things, I know. So there!"